Just two weeks ago, I attended a conference in Philadelphia regarding social media’s influence on the business world as we know it. It’s amazing to see how different departments are leveraging social media in their day-to-day tasks. In fact it’s great. However, for those of you who haven’t jumped on board the social media train, you are missing out. Let’s take HR for example. Recruiters know that they should get involved, so what’s stopping them? Simple. Those professionals have forgotten why they should get involved and thus, have delayed setting up their company profiles. Perhaps if we can remember the end goals of using social media in HR, recruiters won’t delay any longer.

Reason # 1 – It’s where your candidates are. In this day and age, top talent is moving around and in order to stay in touch with this talent you need to know where they are and where they are going. Social media sites also allow recruiters to engage and spread their talent net. Bottom line: recruiters have access to a much larger talent pool than they had before.

Reason # 2 – Everyone else is doing it. Your competitors are perusing their talent pool freely on LinkedIn and Facebook looking for their next game changer. What if you could find them first? Beats the heck out of passive recruiting via cold calling.

Reason # 3 – To improve your company image/brand. Top talent is pickier than ever. They want to know more about the company they are applying for. Make it easy for your candidates by providing this information on the social media sites they are already on. Give them a sneak peek into your company and what a great place it is. You can reel top talent in without even lifting a finger (well except for when you had to set up your profile).

Reason # 4 – Cutting down time-to-fill and cost-per-hire. Social media is free. Yes, I know what you are thinking. Social media is not free - it takes time and personnel resources. Which is very true. But, I promise that making the case for allocating time to social recruiting will be much easier (especially with finance) than using a sourcing firm that costs $x/month. Not that I have anything against sourcing firms. Social media is immediate and updated instantly, which allows you to find the appropriate candidates faster and cheaper. Further, if you are already using an applicant tracking system, even better. Some ATS allow you to post jobs out instantly to all of your social media sites – connecting the job seeker and open requisition faster.

Reason # 5 – And, so on. There are a ton of reasons why you should be on social media. Research a bit more if you don’t believe me.

So you know the reasons why you should do it…now on to the how. The conference provided some great tips on driving your social recruitment campaigns. Here are three starter tips to implement (I, of course, take zero credit for these tips).

Leverage only what you can handle. As a newbie to social media, optimize one platform at a time. Start with LinkedIn. Make sure your company’s profile is up to date. Have employees share their experiences in the group. Write up a quick snapshot of your benefits. Once you feel comfortable with your LinkedIn efforts, move on to another platform making sure to keep up with your LinkedIn as well.

Get your employees involved. Employee referral is one of the best ways to win new top talent. Why not have your employees participate and share news about your company via social media? Not only will their network see the news but your credibility as a good company to work for will increase. If you are shaking your head at this idea because you are concerned with what your employees will say, then maybe you have a bigger problem surrounding the culture and positive work environment of your company.

Create a social media policy. While getting your employees involved does open a lot of doors (if you are a good company you shouldn’t be afraid of that), you should take the necessary precautions. Lindsay Lebresco from Lilly Pulitzer made a great point in saying, make a simple social media policy and make it part of your new hire packet. By having employees see your social media policy from day one, you are encouraging them to think that employee involvement in social media is the norm.

Social recruiting is here to stay, so stop pushing it off and get started today. Hey, that rhymed. Good luck!!